The podcast
How a dental practice actually works, one piece at a time.
Each episode takes one part of a dental practice apart and puts real numbers on it: where a crown fee goes, how an insurance claim gets paid, what a new patient is worth, how a practice gets valued. Hosted by Ryan Smith, DDS, a general dentist who owns and runs dental practices, a dental assisting school and a buying group for dentists, and who has owned a dental lab, a dental supply company and a handpiece repair company. Made for dental students, associates and new owners who want to understand the business they are walking into. Fifteen to twenty minutes, one topic, nobody selling anything.
- Length
- 15 to 20 minutes
- Scope
- One part of the practice per episode
- Evidence
- Real numbers from practices Ryan runs
- Takeaway
- One thing to check in your own numbers this week
Season 1: Where the money goes
Season 1 follows a dollar through a dental practice, from the fee on the treatment plan to what the owner actually keeps. Ten episodes in three parts.
Where the money comes from
Fees, claims and the patients who pay them.
Episode 1: Where a crown fee actually goes
The lab bill, the chair time, the team, the supplies, the overhead, and what is left for the owner.
Episode 2: The life of an insurance claim
From the moment the patient sits down to the day the deposit clears, and every place a claim can stall.
Read first: AOB vs. EOB: Two Terms Every Front Desk Should Get Right
Episode 3: The PPO math nobody shows you at signing
Write-offs, fee schedules that never move, and how to tell which plans are costing you.
Read first: The PPO Math No One Shows You at Signing
Episode 4: What a new patient is worth
What one new patient produces over the years, and what you can afford to spend to get one.
Where it goes
The schedule, the team and the overhead.
Episode 5: Your schedule is your P&L
Why the appointment book, not the fee schedule, decides how much a practice makes.
Episode 6: Hygiene: profit center or break-even?
How to tell whether your hygiene department makes money or just keeps the lights on.
Episode 7: The overhead nobody questions
Rent, supplies, lab, software and payroll: the line items owners stop looking at.
Read first: The Overhead Truth Your P&L is Hiding
What it adds up to
Careers, valuations and who buys practices.
Episode 8: Associate, buy or build
Three paths out of school and the numbers behind each one.
Read first: Associate, buy, or build: the decision that's quietly worth millions
Episode 9: What a practice is really worth
Multiples, add-backs, and the questions to ask before you sign anything.
Episode 10: How private equity buys a practice
Friendly PCs, management fees, EBITDA multiples and the second bite, in plain English.
Read first: How Private Equity Actually Buys a Dental Practice, Step by Step